The weather outside is frightful but Single-Speeds are so delightful!

It’s that time of year again, the rain is back, and weather(get it?) you want to embrace it or not- riding can still be a ton of fun. TRUE Oregonians embrace the rain- and go ride in it! At Lifecycle we (mostly) go out and ride in this stuff and it is totally do-able if you got the right gear. The most important piece of gear is the bike and the SINGLE best way to ride through the winter in the Pacific Northwest is to go Single Speed. Besides making you more “one” with the bike it also reduces the amount of wear and tear you put on parts. WIN!

In and around Eugene the trails are completely do-able on a single speed and are not overly technical so suspension is not needed at the speeds one can travel with the limited traction the mud provides. Here is a prime time example of a proper winter time single speed setup, the Salsa El Mariachi Special Edition:

Here is another sweet example from Kona, the “Unit”

These bikes are great from a consumer point of view because they are light, reasonably priced (Kona Unit $999), and require relatively little maintnece. But you don’t have to buy a brand new frame or complete bike to ride a single speed; if you already have an existing bike and want to make it single speed we can help you out with that process as well. Feel free to bring in your bike and talk with any one of our amzingly-incredibly-awesome service staff to see what your options can be.

When talking about single speeds and 29ers it is impossible not to mention our Limited Edition Eugene Oregon Kona Big Unit Frames! These have sliding dropouts and can be run single speed during the winter time and geared in the summer. We will be producing another run of these frames for 2013 so keep your eyes peeled.